LeAnn Rimes' weight sparks eating disorder furor (PICTURES)

(CBS) Is LeAnn Rimes' slim frame evidence of an eating disorder? Recent photographs showing the country music star looking rail-thin have some people wondering - and twittering - though Rimes says she's perfectly healthy.

"I don't care about the dumb articles," she tweeted recently, according to the Toronto Sun. "I know how healthy I am. Maybe those people should start taking care of themselves...inside and out."

On Wednesday one person tweeted to Rimes, "Im not judging you I dont think it is right, but for someone who had a eating disorder,isnt this bad for girls who look up 2 u." Rimes tweeted back, "that I take care of myself, eat what I want without putting crap into my body and am at a healthy weight, no."

Whether or not Rimes has an eating disorder, there's no doubt that many people who do have one deny it.

"One of the key diagnostic features of anorexia is denial," Dr. Wendy Oliver-Pyatt, a psychiatrist who founded and operates eating disorders treatment centers in Miami. "One of the important things to understand is that experiencing denial is not a choice. The person is not being resistant. They truly don't see that they are too thin."

Given eating disorder sufferers' denial, how can people convince a friend or loved one that he/she might be suffering from an eating disorder - and needs medical help?

"You have to find a way to get the person to connect with you," Oliver-Pyatt says. "Using 'I language' can help." Rather than telling the person he/she has a problem, she says, simply express your own feelings and concerns over the other person's well-being.

In the U.S., an estimated 10 million females and one million males are affected by eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia, according to the National Eating Disorders Association. The conditions, which can be life-threatening, are treated with psychotherapy, along with careful attention to nutrition and care for any medical problems associated with the disorder.